This story has two narrators: Gretchen and Phoenix. They are both young adults (19 and 20 by the end of the book.) They are both trauma survivors from different cultures who happen to connect. Gretchen was brutally assaulted one night by a young latino man. She was scarred by this attack and it derailed her life, despite the support of two very loving parents. Phoenix was living with two women in America, having escaped gang life in El Salvador. He escaped with his younger brother, Ari. It took them four months to get through Mexico and eventually to the US where Phoenix was sent to a detention center and Ari was sent to live in a place for minor chidren in Texas. Ari (short for Arizona) stopped speaking once he arrived in Texas, presumeably from the horrors he experienced trying to get from El Salvador to the US riding on top of trains, working in the drug fields, witnessing death of those who didn't make it. Phoenix's hosts in America were Sally and Amanda. They took him in and gave him a home. Phoenix had to wear an ankle bracelet for tracking purposes and he could not ever step outside the 20 mile radius from their home. He was waiting for his court date to see if he could stay in America or would be deported back to El Salvador.
I have read another book, a biography, of a young man who rode the trains to reach America. In both books, their mothers left them in the care of their grandmothers to travel to America (illegally) to earn a wage to send back to their children. The other story was much more powerful in what it was exposing when it talks about the separation of families and the dangers of these kids trying to reach America. Phoenix's mother came back to El Salvador once, when he was around 7 years old, got pregnant with Ari, and then left again for America when Ari was still an infant. She sent money until Ari was about 3 years old and then they never heard from her again. Once their grandmother died, Phoenix was branded by a gang, and Ari was targeted for induction into a gang, Phoenix knew he had to save Ari from his own experience. Phoenix was forced to participate in a gruesome death of a rival gang member when he was only 13 years old.
Gretchen had a boyfriend who she had been dating for 2 1/2 years. He was a year older than her and in his freshman year of college. Even though he was very supportive and seemed to love her, Gretchen's traumatic assault changed their relationship and they drifted apart. Gretchen couldn't seem to work through her trauma, despite supportive parents, a therapist and an incredible best friend. She broke up with her boyfriend and promptly pursued a relationship with Phoenix. Definitely two troubled souls finding each other.
I read a lot of youth fiction and non-fiction. I've been trying to determine why I didn't love this book. The messages were important, but I think the writing style wasn't for me. Trauma is such a complex issue - and certainly gang life is a tragedy in and of itself. Then there is the painful truths of poverty and loss. This book addresses all of this, but not with a depth that I would have expected. I didn't feel authenticity in the voices.
Wendy's Rating: ***1/2
No comments:
Post a Comment